Many cities and towns are worried about the threat of derailment and explosions

Ed Ruszel’s workday is a soundtrack of whirling, banging, screeching – the percussion of wood being cut, sanded, and finished. He’s the facility manager for the family business, Ruszel Woodworks. But one sound each day roars above the cacophony of the woodshop:…» Read more

Lupe Anguiano is working to stop fracking near the beautiful pacific beaches and fertile agricultural fields of her hometown, Oxnard, CA

I’ve come to Oxnard, California to see oil wells but Lupe Anguiano starts by showing me the ocean. “I love the ocean,” she says as we walk a cement path from the parking lot to the sand. “I have a prayer that…» Read more

Local activists' ballot initiative to stop intensive oil production fights against millions from the oil industry

A block from Rebecca Claassen’s home is a sliver of paradise. Mountains stoop nearly to the water’s edge. Lanky palm trees pitch gently in the breeze. Herons stand statue-still in the dunes. Rebecca has stolen a few moments with her daughter here…» Read more

State wants renewables in the mix, but ultimately utilities will get to decide where most of the power will come from

Perched beside the Pacific Ocean between Los Angeles and San Diego, San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) cranked out power to Southern California for four decades until a small radiation leak discovered in January 2012 revealed bigger problems. The plant was taken…» Read more

Blowing the Tops off of Mountains, Fracturing Communities, Digging for Tar Sands in the Desert…

photo Galt Museum Archive The view from a Cessna reveals some dirty secrets. Flying at 2,000 feet above the forests of Appalachia I can see what the steep, tree-fringed roads fail to show: unnatural flat tops, seams of coal exposed like black-topped runways, impoundments of foul water perched above homes and schools. A naked honesty is revealed. This is what we have done, what we continue to do. We deface the mountains,…» Read more